Ramón Pereira

Early years

Born in Mérida, Extremadura, Pereira went from hometown club CP Mérida to Atlético Madrid as a youth, and made his professional debut with the latter's reserves on 21 September 1997, in a 1–1 Segunda División away draw against Real Jaén where he came on as an 86th-minute substitute for Luis Tevenet. Used rarely, as he was the following season in the same level at his previous team, he dropped down to Segunda División B where he played for Écija Balompié and SD Ponferradina over the next two years. In 2000, Pereira signed for division two side Getafe CF, and scored his first professional goal on 19 November by converting a penalty in a 4–1 win at Elche CF after also coming from the bench. He concluded the campaign with Xerez CD whom he helped to promotion to that tier, and represented the Andalusians there for one and a half years before a brief return to Ponferradina, signing for CD Logroñés also in the third division at the start of 2003–04.

Scotland

Amidst his last club's financial crisis that would see them eventually relegated for administrative reasons, Pereira moved abroad on 10 January 2004, signing for Raith Rovers of the Scottish Football League First Division. After scoring regularly in Kirkcaldy, he joined Heart of Midlothian in the Scottish Premier League on a one-year deal; manager Craig Levein likened him to Nacho Novo, another attacker who went from the lower Spanish leagues to the SPL via Raith. Pereira's opportunities were…